Cinders
by Ecrit
Summary: Set in the world of Arranged. A prophecy was created, after nearly a century of peace in Lorraine threatening the well-being of the entire world. Because of Ella's existence the world is now crumbling- but what she does not realize is that while she carries misfortune around herself like a scent she carries a hidden power that could mark the beginning of a new world.
1. Stolen

**Pardon the french- this is the first official chapter chapter so yeah... but I hope you like it!**

"Quand le garcon a arrive nous sommes-" Papa was interrupted by the loud clanging dishes behind us.

"Desole monsieur- mais il y a une homme dehors qui veux parler avec vous."

Papa nodded and followed the maid, "Attendes-ici mon petit."

I nodded at Papa's retreating back and went back to my embroidery, sitting down on the large futon.

We were expecting visitors today- some of Papa's friends from when he was younger and we were to travel to the capital city with them.

We had lost Maman a few years ago when the plague had hit- and ever since then Papa hadn't really left the house much, it had been a hard blow on all of us. Half of the kitchen staff had died out and even the population had shrunk drastically.

This was why the outing was so important- Papa would be making delegations with the other Lords from the lands nearby ours to come up with a way to go past the post-plague world. And we were to travel to the capital city to meet with the King.

Rumors of rebellions had spread and the King had commanded all the nobles to come together to conference- it was a trying time for the Kingdom and we would all have to cooperate to go through this.

That was as much as I knew- Papa always kept me up to date with politics, being his only heir I would have to run the lands after him. So it was only logical that I knew the ins and outs beforehand.

The sun had set outside and I moved closer to the fireplace so that I could see the prints on the fabric better.

I was deep in concentration with my embroidery when I heard a loud clanking of dishes from the hallway- it sounded as if the maid had dropped the plates and I got up wondering if she'd needed any help.

It had been odd, ever since we'd hired her she had been dropping dishes left and right, I would have to talk to Papa about that. Maybe we could get her to work on other chores, and less on things that could break.

I was on my way out the door when I felt a hand wrap around my waist and before I could scream I felt something covering my mouth.

I couldn't scream, and although I kicked and squirmed to get out of their hold it was too tight, and then I felt the drowsiness come over my head and I blacked out.

When I woke up I could feel the ropes on my wrists, but the cloth over my mouth was gone. I was in the middle of a cluster of trees and the sun had already come out. I could see a horse tied up next to a tree a few feet away from me but other than that there was nothing else.

I struggled to get up, wondering where my abductor was. If only I could get out of these ropes I would be able to take the horse and escape.

It took me a while to sit upright but when I finally did I realized this would be more difficult than I had thought. The rope chafed my skin every time I moved it and I knew if I went at thing unsuccessfully my wrist would begin to bleed and escaping would be much less possible with my wrist messed up.

I could hear movement from the behind the trees now and my captor walked out, he was tall, that was the first thing I noticed and his mouth was covered by cloth.

"Do you want food?" The man asked in English and I just glared wondering if I could benefit from pretending to not understand him. After all, English wasn't even a second language in Lorraine- I wasn't expected to be fluent in it.

"What do you want with me?" I asked and the man ignored me walking to the horse instead and pulled out a loaf of bread.

"You're probably really hungry." He held out the loaf of bread towards me and I shifted back and shook my head still glaring.

"Its not poisoned. And you're gonna need it if you're gonna escape."

I raised my eyebrows. "You _want_ me to escape?"

"Well, that wouldn't be ideal for me but if you want to even attempt it then…"

"I can't eat it unless you untie my hands." I replied wondering if he would fall for it.

I could see that he was grinning under his mask. "You know if you try to run away you wouldn't get that far right?"

I pursed my lips but the man untied my ropes swiftly and handed me the bread.

I nibbled on it, not realizing that I was actually quite hungry. Not hungry enough to have accepted the offer the food for solely that reason but if he could just forget to tie me back up for one second I could get away with his horse.

"What do you want with me?" I asked again.

The man didn't reply, instead he sat down across from me and began sharpening his blade with a rock.

I took a long time to finish the bread, staring at the man and absorbing his features the best I could so that in case I escaped I could help Papa catch who did this.

I had to escape.

It didn't make sense for me to be kidnapped though, a ransom didn't make sense because although we had wealth it wasn't like we were hoarding it and after the plague most of the money went to the people anyways. In addition to that despite being nobles it wasn't like we were deeply involved in the politics outside of the land we owned.

"Hurry up and eat the bread." The man commanded and I glared.

"What do you want with me?" I asked for the third time.

The man stared at me this time silently and I took another small bite of the bread.

"Don't worry, I'll let you go soon, just after I take you to the village." The man replied getting up. "Eat the bread."

I nodded confused taking the last bite. He was going to let me go?

"What village?" I asked. "And why would you let me go? Isn't that kind of pointless?"

"No." Was his only reply before he lifted me up and put me on the horse.

He walked alongside it and we went through the forest.

He wasn't that old, I got that from staring at him, his voice sounded young as well. He had dark brown hair and his skin was slightly tanned. He was, at the oldest maybe two years older than me but no more.

It didn't make any sense for someone as young at that to go around abducting people.

"Are you planning on glaring at me all day?" The man asked.

"Yes." was my only reply.

The rest of the way was silent, until the evening came and we had to stop again.

"How much forest is there?" I asked.

"We can sleep here for the night." He replied and helped me out of the horse.

I stayed quiet as he lit a fire, trying to draw less attention to myself hoping the entire day of walking had made him forget to tie the rest of me up. I doubted I would be that lucky but this way I would have all night to make my escape.

I happened to actually be that lucky because once the flames were up he put some rocks around them so that the sparks wouldn't spread around the trees and went to sleep next to it. I shifted in my place waiting to be sure that he was asleep.

I waited maybe an hour before I heard him softly snoring.


	2. Pre-

Cinders

Set in the world of Arranged. A prophecy was created, after nearly a century of peace in Lorraine threatening the well-being of the entire world. Because of Ella's existence the world is now crumbling- but what she does not realize is that while she carries misfortune around herself like a scent she carries a hidden power that could mark the beginning of a new world.

Pre-

"That happens in the next seven years!" The man argued. "We have to put a stop to it."

"It only works if she's out of the country by then." The man across the room yelled. "We can't have her in Lorraine when it manifests."

"So what do you propose Landon?" The man across the room asked. He had a silver circlet on his head, and he sat at the head of the table.

"You know my proposition your highness." He replied.

"And if we do not follow through with it?"

"Well, then you know the prophecy- it will come to pass."

"Is there any other way?" The man with the circlet looked around, his eyebrows furrowed.

"No. We have to act immediately."

"Very well, but not immediately, give the child a few more years- then when she can understand the gravity of the situation we can leave the decision to her."

The rest of the room went silent.

"Leave the decision to her?" One of the men asked disbelievingly. "How can you be sure she'll make the correct decision?"

"We can't, but we cannot doom a girl's life for a superstition." The man stated firmly.

"Your highness, you know that it is much more than just a superstition."

"I am aware of that of course." He answered, "but we have had not had any prophecies for nearly a century, and the last one came to fruit solely because of the fear of its occurrence."

The men shifted unsurely in their seats and the meeting slowly came to a close.

A few miles away a baby girl lay in her crib, her parents standing above her. Completely oblivious to the fact that her fate was being decided by a room filled with men she had never seen.

"Quand le garcon a arrive nous sommes-" Papa was interrupted by the loud clanging dishes behind us.

"Desole monsieur- mais il y a une homme dehors qui veux parler avec vous."

Papa nodded and followed the maid, "Attendes-ici mon petit."

I nodded at Papa's retreating back and went back to my embroidery, sitting down on the large futon.

We were expecting visitors today- some of Papa's friends from when he was younger and we were to travel to the capital city with them.

We had lost Maman a few years ago when the plague had hit- and ever since then Papa hadn't really left the house much, it had been a hard blow on all of us. Half of the kitchen staff had died out and even the population had shrunk drastically.

This was why the outing was so important- Papa would be making delegations with the other Lords from the lands nearby ours to come up with a way to go past the post-plague world. And we were to travel to the capital city to meet with the King.

Rumors of rebellions had spread and the King had commanded all the nobles to come together to conference- it was a trying time for the Kingdom and we would all have to cooperate to go through this.

That was as much as I knew- Papa always kept me up to date with politics, being his only heir I would have to run the lands after him. So it was only logical that I knew the ins and outs beforehand.

The sun had set outside and I moved closer to the fireplace so that I could see the prints on the fabric better.

I was deep in concentration with my embroidery when I heard a loud clanking of dishes from the hallway- it sounded as if the maid had dropped the plates and I got up wondering if she'd needed any help.

It had been odd, ever since we'd hired her she had been dropping dishes left and right, I would have to talk to Papa about that. Maybe we could get her to work on other chores, and less on things that could break.

I was on my way out the door when I felt a hand wrap around my waist and before I could scream I felt something covering my mouth.

I couldn't scream, and although I kicked and squirmed to get out of their hold it was too tight, and then I felt the drowsiness come over my head and I blacked out.

When I woke up I could feel the ropes on my wrists, but the cloth over my mouth was gone. I was in the middle of a cluster of trees and the sun had already come out. I could see a horse tied up next to a tree a few feet away from me but other than that there was nothing else.

I struggled to get up, wondering where my abductor was. If only I could get out of these ropes I would be able to take the horse and escape.

It took me a while to sit upright but when I finally did I realized this would be more difficult than I had thought. The rope chafed my skin every time I moved it and I knew if I went at thing unsuccessfully my wrist would begin to bleed and escaping would be much less possible with my wrist messed up.

I could hear movement from the behind the trees now and my captor walked out, he was tall, that was the first thing I noticed and his mouth was covered by cloth.

"Do you want food?" The man asked in English and I just glared wondering if I could benefit from pretending to not understand him. After all, English wasn't even a second language in Lorraine- I wasn't expected to be fluent in it.

"What do you want with me?" I asked and the man ignored me walking to the horse instead and pulled out a loaf of bread.

"You're probably really hungry." He held out the loaf of bread towards me and I shifted back and shook my head still glaring.

"Its not poisoned. And you're gonna need it if you're gonna escape."

I raised my eyebrows. "You want me to escape?"

"Well, that wouldn't be ideal for me but if you want to even attempt it then…"

"I can't eat it unless you untie my hands." I replied wondering if he would fall for it.

I could see that he was grinning under his mask. "You know if you try to run away you wouldn't get that far right?"

I pursed my lips but the man untied my ropes swiftly and handed me the bread.

I nibbled on it, not realizing that I was actually quite hungry. Not hungry enough to have accepted the offer the food for solely that reason but if he could just forget to tie me back up for one second I could get away with his horse.

"What do you want with me?" I asked again.

The man didn't reply, instead he sat down across from me and began sharpening his blade with a rock.

I took a long time to finish the bread, staring at the man and absorbing his features the best I could so that in case I escaped I could help Papa catch who did this.

I had to escape.

It didn't make sense for me to be kidnapped though, a ransom didn't make sense because although we had wealth it wasn't like we were hoarding it and after the plague most of the money went to the people anyways. In addition to that despite being nobles it wasn't like we were deeply involved in the politics outside of the land we owned.

"Hurry up and eat the bread." The man commanded and I glared.

"What do you want with me?" I asked for the third time.

The man stared at me this time silently and I took another small bite of the bread.

"Don't worry, I'll let you go soon, just after I take you to the village." The man replied getting up. "Eat the bread."

I nodded confused taking the last bite. He was going to let me go?

"What village?" I asked. "And why would you let me go? Isn't that kind of pointless?"

"No." Was his only reply before he lifted me up and put me on the horse.

He walked alongside it and we went through the forest.

He wasn't that old, I got that from staring at him, his voice sounded young as well. He had dark brown hair and his skin was slightly tanned. He was, at the oldest maybe two years older than me but no more.

It didn't make any sense for someone as young at that to go around abducting people.

"Are you planning on glaring at me all day?" The man asked.

"Yes." was my only reply.

The rest of the way was silent, until the evening came and we had to stop again.

"How much forest is there?" I asked.

"We can sleep here for the night." He replied and helped me out of the horse.

I stayed quiet as he lit a fire, trying to draw less attention to myself hoping the entire day of walking had made him forget to tie the rest of me up. I doubted I would be that lucky but this way I would have all night to make my escape.

I happened to actually be that lucky because once the flames were up he put some rocks around them so that the sparks wouldn't spread around the trees and went to sleep next to it. I shifted in my place waiting to be sure that he was asleep.

I waited maybe an hour before I heard him softly snoring.


End file.
